System and methods for non-parametric technique based geolocation and cognitive sensor activation

• US 9,804,253 B2
• Filed: 08/30/2013
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Nijsure, Yogesh Anil
• Primary Examiner(s): McGue, Frank J
• Application Number:
  US14/014,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20150009072A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,523 Days
• Field of Search: 34053922, 342417
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0218 Multipath in signal reception
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0278 involving statistical or probabilistic considerations G01S5/0252, G01S5/0294 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/28 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial

Abstract

The present invention relates to a geolocation system and method for a multi-path environment. The geolocation system comprises one or more emitters (201a . . . 201n), one or more sensors (202a . . . 202n) comprising at least one processor. A first processor (204) estimates angle of arrival (AOA) and time of arrival (TOA) from the signals received from said one or more emitters (201a . . . 201n). A second processor (205) determines clusters based on the (AOA) and (TOA) data. The system also comprises a central node (207) in communication with at least one sensor (202a . . . 202n) and configured to estimate geolocation of one or more emitters (201a . . . 201n) wherein, said second processor (205) clusters data for the one or more emitters (201a . . . 201n) by executing a non-parametric Bayesian technique and said central node (207) utilizes hybrid angle of arrival-time difference of arrival (AOA-TDOA) technique to determine geolocation of each of the emitters (201a . . . 201n).

Claims

1. A geolocation system for a multi-path environment comprising:

one or more emitters;

one or more sensors comprising at least one processor;

a first processor configured to estimate an angle of arrival (AOA) and a time of arrival (TOA) from the signals received from the one or more emitters;

a second processor configured to determine clusters based on the AOA and TOA data received from said one or more emitters;

a central node in communication with at least one sensor and configured to estimate geolocation and a next time instant position of the one or more emitters based on the determined clusters; and

a cognitive sensor activation unit in communication with the central node, the cognitive sensor activation unit configured to selectively activate the one or more sensors to detect the corresponding one or more emitters based on the estimated geolocation and next time instant position of the one or more emitters;

wherein said second processor clusters data for the one or more emitters in said multi-path environment by executing a non-parametric Bayesian technique; and

said central node utilizes hybrid angle of arrival-time difference of arrival (AOA-TDOA) technique to determine the geolocation of each of the one or more emitters;

wherein said second processor utilizes a Dirichlet process mixture model (DPMM) technique to determine an actual number of emitters comprising the one or more emitters.

2. The geolocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first processor includes a digital signal processor (DSP), and the second processor includes a general purpose processor (GPP).

3. The geolocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said sensors comprises an antenna array configured to receive signals in the multi-path environment.

4. The geolocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said sensor comprises a transceiver configured to transmit the clustered data to the central node.

5. The geolocation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central node and said cognitive sensor activation unit are connected to a graphical user interface.

6. A method for providing geolocation information in a multi-path environment comprising the steps of:

receiving a mixture of signals from one or more emitters at one or more sensors in said multi-path environment;

determining angle of arrival (AOA) and time of arrival (TOA) data from each of the received signals in said multi-path environment;

clustering the mixture of received signals based on the determined AOA and TOA data into one or more clusters arising from one or more emitters utilizing a non-parametric Bayesian technique;

transmitting by the one or more sensors the one or more clusters to a central node for further processing;

estimating by the central node the time difference of arrival (TDOA) profile for each of the one or more emitters based on the one or more clusters and extracting the AOA data for said emitters from within the distinct one or more clusters;

processing by the central node the AOA data and TDOA profile data for each of the one or more emitters to perform a hybrid AOA-TDOA technique for determining the geolocation of the one or more emitters;

wherein the central node further utilizes a Dirichlet process mixture model (DPMM) technique to determine an actual number of emitters comprising the one or more emitters; and

selectively activating the one or more sensors to detect the corresponding one or more emitters based on the determined geolocation of the one or more emitters.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, comprising displaying geolocation data on a graphical user interface.

8. A method for selectively activating one or more sensors for tracking one or more emitters in a multi-path environment, comprising the steps of:

receiving signals from one or more emitters at one or more sensors in said multi-path environment;

determining angle of arrival (AOA) and time of arrival (TOA) from each of the received signals in said multi-path environment;

clustering into clusters the mixture of received signals arising from one or more emitters utilizing a non-parametric Bayesian technique;

transmitting by the one or more sensors said clusters to a central node for further processing;

estimating by the central node the time difference of arrival (TDOA) profile for each of the one or more emitters and extracting the AOA data for said emitters from within the distinct clusters;

processing by the central node the TDOA profile and AOA data information for each of the one or more emitters to perform a hybrid AOA-TDOA technique for determining the geolocation of the one or more emitters, wherein the central node further utilizes a Dirichlet process mixture model (DPMM) technique to determine an actual number of emitters comprising the one or more emitters;

tracking the position and a next time instant position of each of the emitters based on said geolocation of the one or more emitters; and

selectively activating the one or more sensors in proximity to one or more emitters based on the determined geolocation and next time instant position of the one or more emitters.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising discretizing the multi-path environment into Voronoi regions based on each sensor being located at a center of a corresponding Voronoi region;

wherein selectively activating the one or more sensors includes activating the one or more sensors based on the Voronoi region discretization.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein selectively activating the one or more sensors in proximity to a targeted emitter reduces the sensor transmission power and noise contributions.